


mint-green eyes

by spoopdeedoop



Category: Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: M/M, but he is cute, i describe evan's facial features a lot, i love tags, maybe i should stop writing stories about issues i'm not familiar with, or like, pets for mental health, whatever that's called
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:14:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24805258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spoopdeedoop/pseuds/spoopdeedoop
Summary: To guitar lesbian: help my cat’s gonw insane ????To guitar lesbian: like she just dragged me to the parkTo guitar lesbian: bitch is staring me down from a bench nowTo guitar lesbian: what is wrONG EITH MY CATTo guitar lesbian: or maybe this is normal, maybe regular people habe cats that walk them to the parkTo guitar lesbian: but then why don’t I see thet happening to other people????To guitar lesbian: ZOE STOP MAKING OUT WITH ALANA AND GET INTO MY TEXTS GODDAMMIT UGHHHHH(or: connor has a cat. evan has a bird. both have them for mental health issues.
Relationships: Alana Beck/Zoe Murphy (mentioned/implied), Connor Murphy & Zoe Murphy, Evan Hansen/Connor Murphy
Comments: 6
Kudos: 63





	mint-green eyes

**Author's Note:**

> yeah screw that title  
> i'll just keep posting oneshots til i can find the energy to post another chapter for the actual book thing.  
> also y'all listen to this shit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgdlwP3G4ao  
> it's great

Connor could relate to cats on a spiritual level.

The laziness, the judgement, the face that generally communicated "I'm dead inside" - it was all just too familiar. So when his therapist suggested that he adopt a pet to boost his mental health, Connor knew exactly what animal he wanted.

Minty had not been anything he'd expected, though. The cat had long dark fur and bright, curious mint-green eyes hence her name. But she wasn't lazy or judgemental or independent. On the contrary, the one-year-old was an attention whore. She complained loudly whenever she was put outside, she enjoyed water for some inexplicable reason, and she loved it when Connor picked her up.

To be honest, Connor liked it this way. He doubted this household could handle two of him, anyway,

It was weird to know that Minty was as dependent on him as he was on her. That there was a living, breathing creature reliant on him to maintain both its physical and mental health as well as his own. But his therapist had been correct, as always: taking care of Minty was definitely starting to feel therapeutic. He practically lived for Saturday afternoons on the sofa, scrolling through google images under the search 'dark humour', cat in his lap, purring contentedly as he absent-mindedly stroked her with one hand.

Oh god.

He was becoming a boomer.

IT WAS ALL COMING TOGETHER NOW.

Minty bumped her head gently against Connor's shin, making impatient noises. Connor leaned down. "What do you want, you little asshole? I just fed you."

The cat flicked her tail and meowed meaningfully. Sometimes she did that, though. Ask for something and then immediately forget she'd asked for it. Maybe if he ignored her, she would leave.

She didn't.

Connor sighed. "For fuck's sake - what?!"

She trotted over to the door and pawed at it. She never enjoyed using her claws on anything, for some reason. But Connor actually scoffed at his cat because this was crazy. 

_Minty._ Wanting to go _outside._ What the fuck. Um, where'd his cat go, because this sure ain't her.

"Okay, fine, weirdo," said Connor, reaching down to scratch the back of her neck. "We'll go to the park if you're suddenly gonna be Excercise McFitFace, but don't complain if you get tired."

Minty just promptly flit out the door he'd opened without even a noise of dismissal. She did look unreasonably smug, though.

Jesus Christ.

Connor didn't know how to look _normal_ walking a cat. Like. Minty didn't bound off or anything, much to his credit; she stayed padding alongside her owner like some bizarre tiny furry horse, but her presence made him feel ten times more awkward among the rest of society. Was it common for people to walk cats? Was there something Connor was missing?

No one was glancing at him a second time, though. That was good.

Connor felt Minty's tail graze his thigh gently as she switched course toward Ellison Park, which, okay, what the fuck _again,_ because he had never taken this cat to this park as far as he could remember. How in God's name did she know where to turn?

His cat began to pick up the pace a bit, switching from a slow trot to a movement that resembled a jog, oddly enough. Connor watched as Minty leapt up onto a nearby bench, lowered her hindquarters, and sat there, a furry green-eyed bowling pin, waiting for her owner to approach her.

Connor whipped his phone out and typed a message to Zoe, as he knew that she loved to hear all the drama going around in his life, which was weird because why would she need to care?

To **_guitar lesbian:_** help my cat’s gonw insane ????

To **_guitar lesbian:_** like she just dragged me to the park

To **_guitar lesbian:_** bitch is staring me down from a bench now

To **_guitar lesbian:_** what is wrONG EITH MY CAT

To **_guitar lesbian:_** or maybe this is normal, maybe regular people habe cats that walk them to the park

To **_guitar lesbian:_** but then why don’t I see thet happening to other people????

To **_guitar lesbian:_** ZOE STOP MAKING OUT WITH ALANA AND GET INTO MY TEXTS GODDAMMIT UGHHHHH

Connor glanced up from his phone…

And now Minty had a bird on her head.

You cannot write this shit.

He moved closer toward the cat and her newfound friend. It looked like maybe a budgerigar or a small parrot of some sort – blue feathers with whispers of green and red along its wings and tail. It looked perfectly peaceful from its perch between Minty’s ears, and Minty was trying to roll her eyeballs backwards to look at it. The bird glanced down at her with wide eyes, clicking its beak like it was judging Minty’s performance as a pillow.

To **_guitar lesbian:_** zoe holy fuccnk

To **_guitar lesbian:_** shes got a fucking bird on her head

To **_guitar lesbian:_** why aren’t they trying to kill eac other

To **_guitar lesbian:_** MY LIFE DOESN’T MAKE SENSE ANYMORE

Connor didn’t think a bird this colourful or this calm around other animals could be wild, unless this was the Amazon Rainforest. It must belong to someone.

Sure enough, there was a boy under a tree, his eyes darting around like he was looking for something. Connor knew it was him because he kept looking skywards.

Connor moves toward Minty to gently take the bird from her. It shuffled away from him and nipped at his finger, but eventually it cautiously stepped onto his hand. Connor could feel its tiny heartbeat thrumming through his arm like a soft, small drum kit.

Minty silently followed him as he approached the boy. “Um. Excuse me, is this yours?”

The boy looked up and, holy shit, he was sort of cute. Short, sandy hair. Bursts of freckles scattered along his nose and underneath his eyes. Thick, soft-looking lips and this really adorable nose. And, holy shit times two, his eyes were the same shade of green as Minty’s, if not a little bit bluer. The way he held himself was like an alert rabbit preparing to bolt if things took a turn for the worse.

Cute Boy gave a small smile that did not meet the terror in his eyes. “W-well. I g-g-guess so. I mean. She’s a-as much mine was she is a-anyone e-else’s. It f-f-feels weird to s-say that she’s _m-mine,_ you know? I-If that made sense. Oh God.” He wiped his hands on his thighs. “Th-that made no sense. I’m s-sorry. Agh.”

Connor was a bit taken aback. He’d only offered six words to contribute in this interaction and the second party was already a nervous wreck.

“Hey, no, it’s fine, I get it. So, uh…does she…stay with you?”

“Y-yeah.” Cute Boy made a gesture with his shoulder that caused the bird to flutter down to land on his collarbone. She pulled herself up to nestle against his neck, which made him giggle softly, and holy shit has become a trilogy, because Connor’s heart has become a firework.

“Hey, Iris,” Cute Boy said to the bird. “Don’t do that again, okay? I was worried about you.” He glanced up. “S-sorry you h-had to talk t-to me.”

“You don’t need to be sorry for that,” Connor offered, feeling his mouth turn up, which was odd. He didn’t smile often. “In fact – honestly I should be thanking your bird for being the reason I met you.”

Cute Boy blushed and Connor wondered subconsciously if he was being too forward as he stuck out his hand. “I’m Connor Murphy, by the way.”

Cute Boy took his hand, still red in the face. “E-Evan Hansen. It’s really nice t-to meet y-y-you.”

“Okay, I’m flattered, but you don’t have to be so formal. Because, like. I’m not royalty.”

“Sorry.” Evan winced. “I said i-it again. That’s g-got to be getting a-annoying. I’m s-“ he caught himself, and they both laughed, and Connor realised that Evan hadn’t released his hand yet.

“So…does your bird know my cat somehow, or…”

“Oh. W-well. Iris tends to r-roam free at night, s-sometimes. Maybe she met your cat s-somewhere here when you w-were asleep, or something.”

Connor raised his eyebrows at Evan, then at Minty, who was sitting delicately at his feet, blinking innocently up at him. That explained Minty’s recent nighttime absences.

“How’d you train your bird to come back to you?” Connor asked Evan instead. “Aren’t you worried that she might – you know – fly off?”

Evan picked Iris off his shirt and the bird gave an indignant whistling noise. “I didn’t train her. The shelter I g-got her from did. And I do worry, a-a _lot,_ b-but… she always comes back. I d-don’t know why.” He chuckled gently. “She’s supposed to help me with my mental stability.”

“So is Minty.” Connor picked up his cat. “And despite being an absolute asshole sometimes, I think she’s doing well at her job so far.”

“Same here.”

They talked for a bit, and then Minty started complaining because she was hungry, and then they left each other. Connor now had a perpetual grin on his face and Evan’s phone number under the contact name _even handsoap._ He texted Zoe during the way home, almost bumping into several people along the way.

 _To **guitar lesbian:**_ zoe zoe zoe zoe zoe

 _To **guitar lesbian:**_ the bird belonged to a cute guy

 _To **guitar lesbian:**_ cute guy proceeded to giv me his phone number

 _To **guitar lesbian:**_ like holy shit he was adorable you cant even imagine

 _To **guitar lesbian:**_ what are the odds of me marrying him someday???

 _To **guitar lesbian:**_ and its all thx to my fuckin cat

 _To **guitar lesbian:**_ I love minty sm omggggg

 _To **guitar lesbian:**_ ik you love talking about my love life get over hereeeeee

 _To **guitar lesbian:**_ I LOVE MY CAT hnnnnghghh

_From **guitar lesbian:**_ oh my lord this is what I open my phone to


End file.
